Sport and Exercise Science - Research Paper

Introduction

Exercise adherence is defined as the degree to which an individual can sustain an exercise program. Benefits that are accrued from exercising come from sustained participation. Though physical exercise is associated with positive psychological well-being, the most significant barrier to sporting is adherence to exercise regimens. Exercise adherence constitutes the frequency, intensity, and duration of time span in which an individual engages an exercise program. The case of adherence to exercise has been studied mainly to determine factors motivating sustenance in exercise. This factors often range from psychological to social and even to environmental elements.

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Moreover, the motivation for exercising has often been classified either as external or internal. Internal motives being those that arise from within an individual and may also be referred to as self-motivation while external motive being those that result from other sources other than self, such as peer pressure, family influence or even the perception of the trainer among others. This paper seeks to review the study by Sanz-Arazuri, E. et al. (2018) who investigated the effect of parental influence on exercise adherence among their adolescent children.

For sports coaches training teenagers support from parents is of great importance. The article by Sanz-Arazuri, E., et al. (2018) aimed at verifying whether parents who granted importance to leisure physical activity, as well as their educational level, enhanced or weakened their children physical activeness in sports. Put differently, they sought to examine how a parent's perception of sports affected their children engagement in sports. From the article's abstract the objective is well informed as parents remain a massive motivation to their children. The articles cite literature indicating that 10 percent of the population is committed to a physical activity, 20 percent will start but not adhere to exercise, 40 percent will promise to start an exercise program, 20 percent need to be convinced to participate in exercise and 10 percent are not interested in any form of organized or recommended activity (Allender, Cowburn, & Foster, 2006). Though this assertion in general, the article has identified other gaps including reports that parent's lifestyle being a predictor of adolescent physical activity and other that indicated a parent's priority to academic success as another factor (Lui & Hui, 2009). It is clear from the abstract that the question is worth pursuing.

Methods and Results in the Research

The study used a quantitative technique to perform methodological triangulation on the data collected using MACOFYD questionnaire. MACOFYD stands for Motivation, attitudes, and Behavior in Physical Activity and Sports in Leisure. A qualitative technique was used on data received from the discussion groups. In the quantitative method, a sample of 1978 students sampled by stratified clusters was used. Of which, 51.7 percent were female while 48.3 were male. The participants were aged between 12 and 16 years. The quantitative method procedure involved administering a test to randomly selected classes. The data was then analyzed using S.P.S.S 19.0. Then subjected to a multinomial regression analysis.

On the other hand, the qualitative method a total of 41 individuals participated from four of the collectives. It also incorporated ten parents, 10 Physical Education (PE) teachers and ten teachers of subjects other than PE and 11 students of Compulsory Secondary Education. The participants were then subjected to 8 general questions that did not explicitly mention the objective of the study. Data collected was then analyzed.

The study noted that adolescents perceived that their parents negatively affected their adherence to physical activity. The study also indicated that 45 percent of PE teachers indicated that parents played a critical role in determining whether their children will engage or drop out of physical exercise programs. Moreover, 62 percent of PE teachers noted that parents placed little importance on their children physical exercise especially as they grew older since their academic issues are perceived as a priority. The also indicated that adolescent less likely engaged in physical exercise when their parents adopted a sedentary lifestyle compared to adolescents whose parents exercise and remain physically active.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The research successfully achieved its aims of establishing a correlation between adolescent's adherence to sporting activity to parental influence. Moreover, it confirmed prior research posing the same question. It also successfully filled the gap it had observed in previous research as the impact of a parent's lifestyle on their teenage adherence to sports. The research used both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study's choice of using a mixed method approach is well informed as it offsets the biases and weaknesses that may be present in a single method. Additionally, the mixed gives more in-depth information and knowledge of the problem. It also increases the findings reliability and credibility through triangulation of the different evidence results.

Another strength of the study is that it involved all the crucial participants in an adolescent's physical exercise engagement. These include PE teachers and parents. The study's choice of inviting teachers of subjects other than PE was well informed as it helps in the investigation of the parent's priority to academics. The non-PE teachers hold a different view from that aimed by the study and may hold the opinion that sports affect an adolescent's performance in academics. The research also brings in an element of gender by noting females reduced the probability of consolidating adolescents.

The study has its weakness on the fact that it is based on the perception of adolescents, their parents, and teachers. This point is important as the study may have been carried out in a disoriented community characterized by poor parents-children or poor parents-teachers relationships hence affect their perception. Though the research notes that it did not inform them on the objective of the study issues among themselves may still emerge to affect the study. The study is also faulted on the basis that it is generalized on adolescents. It thus follows that parent's participation in exercise programs -aimed at their disabled adolescents or ailing youngsters who have been recommended by a physiotherapist to exercise, would be different. The research also cites its limitation in that it differed significantly with prior studies that found gender underlined more differences in relation to adolescent's physical practice rather than being only limited to being sedentary.

Recommendation

I would recommend the article to my colleagues who might want to review or conduct research on sports and exercise adherence. The endorsement is based on the fact that the research aligns with findings of other peer-reviewed studies about parental influence on teenager's adherence to exercise. Moreover, its focus on teenagers as well informed as there exists misconception that teenagers are at an active stage and will generally sustain an exercise program. The article overcomes this myth and acknowledges the external influence specifically parents influence their continued participation in sports. I would also recommend the article on the basis that it used an appropriate method in data collection and analysis. The mixed method definitely reduced the error in the research. The research also focused on the current trend among parents of emphasizing on academic issues more than on sporting activities. The issue raises a gap in the study.

Colleagues wishing to research on this topic could, for example, investigate why parents grant more importance to other issues such as studies rather than motor activity. Their research could also investigate many other family factors influencing youngster's physical sports leisure. Parents influence their disabled or ailing youngsters exercise programs, forms a noteworthy gap worth pursuing. The article has contributed greatly to the filled with sports and education. Moreover, it has roped in other issues such as gender. My recommendation would also be justified by the fact that the article is recent, having been published in 2018. The currency is important in that the article takes care of recent and upcoming issues in the field. 66 percent of the articles cited by the study date 10 years to the publishing of the article. The website to which the article was identified notes that it is a peer review, referenced and original research.

Overall this article is very straightforward from the abstract to the conclusion. The article achieved its goal of outlining the parent's influence on adherence to exercise by adolescents. Scientists who might want to investigate further on the topic and should aim at eradicating the weaknesses outlined in this review. That is, concentrating on disabled and ailing adolescents, single parent's gender as well as avoiding dependence on participant's perception.

References

Allender, S., Cowburn, G., & Foster, C. (2006). Understanding participation in sport and physical activity among children and adults: a review of qualitative studies. Health Education Research, 21(6), 826-835. doi:10.1093/her/cyl063

Lui, K. C., & Hui, S. S. (2009). Participation in and Adherence to Physical Activity in People With Physical Disability. Hong Kong Physiotherapy Journal, 27(1), 30-38. doi:10.1016/s1013-7025(10)70006-3

Sanz-Arazuri, E., Valdemoros-San-Emeterio, M., Ponce-De-Leon-Elizondo, A., & Baena-Extremera, A. (2018). Parental influence on adolescent adherence to physical-sport practice. Retos, 33, 185-189.